SAN FRANCISCO / Presidio proceeds on plans for lodge / 13 firms showing interest in remake of the Main Post

Chuck Squatriglia, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, January 31, 2007

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Potential Lodging Sites. Chronicle graphic by Todd Trumbull

Potential Lodging Sites. Chronicle graphic by Todd Trumbull

SAN FRANCISCO / Presidio proceeds on plans for lodge / 13 firms showing interest in remake of the Main Post

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The Presidio has a lot to offer the 4.6 million people who visit the national park each year -- spectacular views, beautiful hikes, an 18-hole golf course and even an Asian spa. What it doesn't have is a place for any of those visitors to spend the night.

That's about to change.

Presidio officials are encouraging developers to submit proposals for a lodge at the center of the Presidio. The idea has drawn interest from 13 firms eager to build a hotel in one of San Francisco's most beautiful, and potentially lucrative, locations.

The Presidio attracted 1.3 million more visitors than Yosemite National Park last year but is one of the few major national parks that does not offer lodging. Changing that has always been part of the plan for the Presidio, and park officials insist the lodge will be more than a place to sleep.

It is, they said, a linchpin in their plan to remake the Main Post by transforming a 7-acre parking lot into a lush public square that draws tourists and locals into the heart of the park. The goal is to do for the Presidio what Crissy Field did for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

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"What we want to do is create a place for people to gather," said Michael Boland, director of planning and park projects. "Lodging, if done the right way, is a wonderful way to animate a park."

The right way does not mean plopping down a megahotel or building a stone-and-timber lodge like the Awahnee Hotel at Yosemite, Boland said. Rather, park officials said the Presidio Lodge -- they don't use the word "hotel" -- must celebrate the Presidio's 200-year history as a military post.

They've identified four potential lodge sites on the Main Post in the heart of the park. Six homes on Riley Street, and six more on Funston Avenue and Pershing Hall could be converted to bed-and-breakfast accommodations. The Montgomery Street barracks could provide more traditional rooms.

"These buildings are eminently adaptable for lodging because they were lodging," Boland said. "That's why we selected them."

Developers could use any or all of the proposed sites and could also propose a new building along Graham Street, but it would have to complement the surrounding architecture, much like the Letterman Digital Arts Center complements neighboring buildings.

Park officials have six broad objectives -- such as "provide a high-quality national park lodge experience" and "help establish Main Post as a welcoming place for visitors" -- that developers must follow. One question still to be answered is how the Presidio Lodge will be financed and how much revenue the park will receive.

Proposals submitted by April will be presented to the public in May.

Presidio Lodge is a key component of a broader campaign to remake the Main Post and create a vibrant public square. The plan, which is contingent upon funding, calls for ripping up the sprawling parking lot at the heart of the Presidio to create a terraced lawn with unparalleled views of the Golden Gate and Marin Headlands. The lawn would provide a forum for concerts and other events.

The original foundations of El Presidio, the garrison the Spanish built in 1776, would be unearthed and an education center opened at the Presidio Officers' Club to teach children about archaeology and the history of San Francisco.

But the most ambitious component calls for creating a grand esplanade that would stretch from the Officers' Club to the waterfront, joining the Presidio with Crissy Field and allowing visitors to walk along landscaped gardens and other features.

"We're going to use all of these attributes to draw people to the parade ground and create a public square," said Craig Middleton, executive director of the Presidio Trust. "A grand public square in a national park."

Park officials concede that five years is an optimistic timeline, but they note that Crissy Field -- a far more complicated project -- was renovated in seven.